getting kittens in carrier

I have 2 feral kittens, almost 6 months old. The male wont allow us to pick him up much less get him into the carrier. the tricks i used to try before dont work anymore because he's caught on to them and now knows to stay clear of me when he suspects something is up. They are getting fixed in two weeks and im stressing now because i dont know how to get him into the carrier. Any suggestions??

Your best bet might be to borrow (or buy) a humane trap. You can usually borrow or rent one from your local humane society and sometimes vets will have traps that can be borrowed. They are easy to use and completely harmless to the trapped cat!

Can you put a fav food or toy (are these indoor kitties yet? ) If they are still outdoors, you may need to trap them with a humane trap - it may also bring mama if she is still nearby and hears them mewing of her babies. But at 6 mos, they are older kittens.

I place a carrier with an open door near their food bowl for a few weeks prior to when I want to catch them. Then slowly move the carrier towards the food or the food towards the carrier. Start feeding them inside the carrier for a few days before you need to take them in. You will need to be sitting near the carrier for this to work, so that you can close the door behind them.

If they won't fall for that, you should borrow a humane trap from the Humane Society or perhaps your vet. This trick simply doesn't work for most really feral cats.

If you have a specific appointment, call your vet and let them know what is up. My vet is VERY flexible when it comes to trapping ferals, and he lets me know his surgery days. It gives me the option that if I don't catch them the exact day I want, I always have a backup plan and try later in the week.

You can try a drop trap they are pretty easy to make, well I didn't make mine my hubby did, but that's how I caught these last 5 babies. and they seem to not be to suspect of them, I used mostely himane traps for the other 11, then they started wising up

Thanks for the suggestions. My kittens are indoors and ive been socializing them since they were 2 months old. I cant lure him in with food (and that trick stopped working months ago) because he will be going in for surgery.(after he realized the 'trick' he would rather not eat for days before going into the carrier) Right now, becuase he doesnt like to be picked up (or his underbelly touched)I cant get him into the kennel manually.

I might have to rent a trap to get him.
Thank goodness my vet understands my issues with this kitten and is flexible with surgery dates.

Originally Posted by Alisa

Thanks for the suggestions. My kittens are indoors and ive been socializing them since they were 2 months old. I cant lure him in with food (and that trick stopped working months ago) because he will be going in for surgery.(after he realized the 'trick' he would rather not eat for days before going into the carrier) Right now, becuase he doesnt like to be picked up (or his underbelly touched)I cant get him into the kennel manually.

I might have to rent a trap to get him.
Thank goodness my vet understands my issues with this kitten and is flexible with surgery dates.

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Sometimes with our cats that don't like the carrier...we will stick the carrier on it's end with the opening at the top..then we will scruff the cat by it's neck and lower it into the carrier legs first.

Katie

When I had a semi-feral foster, I put the whole food dish in the carrier. (In fact, I still keep it there to keep the dog out of it!) That way it was always in the same area, and she got used to going in the carrier, with the other cats.
I could lure her with food treats, like KFC or leftovers. That was the only time I could pet her initially. Feliway also helped a lot. And I wish I had known about the blinking. Check it out on the behavior thread. It is a way to show the cat that you like it, in cat language, by blinking slowly. By staring straight at a cat you intimidate it. Who knew?
Good luck with these feral babies. Another thing that helped mine was when her sister (who tamed quickly) moved to a new home. I think 2 scaredcats can reinforce each others behavior.
Good luck catching him.

I learned one way to do this at the vet I used to volunteer at. Cats love small dark spaces. They love pillowcases. All you have to do is hold the pillowcase open, and the cat will normally climb in. If he doesn't, then a little encouragement may be needed. Anyway, after he's in the pillowcase, you close it off, and put the pillowcase in the carrier. Then, holding the opening of the pillowcase toward the BACK of the carrier, slowly nudge him out, if he doesn't come out on his own, and snap the pillowcase back, and close the door. That's how I learned to deal with picky kittys.

Thanks for all the tips. i think ill try the pillowcase idea. Ill try anything at this point. knowing my kitten, he'll suspect im trying to trap him and not come anywhere near the pillowcase!!!!